Gudimallam Lingam

Uncommon card · No. 96314

The Gudimallam Lingam is an ancient linga in the Parashurameshwara Swami Temple of Gudimallam, a small village near Tirupati city in the Yerpedu mandal of the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is situated about 24 kilometres (15 mi) south-east of Tirupati city. Though Gudimallam is a small village, it is well known because it has a very early linga that is unmistakably phallic in shape, with a full-length standing relief figure of Shiva carved on the front. This is in the garbhagriha of the Parasurameswara Temple, Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva. This is perhaps the second earliest linga associated with Shiva discovered so far, and it has been dated to the 2nd/1st century BC, or the 3rd century BC, or much later, to the 2nd century AD, 3-4th century AD, According to Harle, this is "the only sculpture of any importance" to survive from ancient South India before sculpture made under the Pallava dynasty from the 7th century AD onwards, and "its mysteriousness lies in the total...

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